Current Seminar:
• Augustine's De Trinitate
5/6/2006
Book I, Chapter 3
Br. Dunstan Robidoux, OSB
In chapter 3, Augustine proposes a hermeneutic that cuts through Arian arguments using scripture which had tried to show that Christ was a
creature and so not fully divine. Augustine takes from St. Paul the thesis that Christ possessed both a divine form and a human form. What has a
divine form assumes a human form and so in Christ there exists a being with two forms: one divine and the other human. Augustine does not speak about
two beings in Christ but two forms or natures and, in doing so, he anticipates a dogmatic decision promulgated by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Christ has two natures which are not to be confused. One nature is not changed into another as would be the case if one were to adopt a monophysite
view which speaks of only one nature in Christ. The oneness of Christ’s being implies the oneness of his nature and so, if this principle is
taken as a principle of interpretation, one might try to argue that Christ possesses initially a humanity that is changed into divinity. The implication
is a thesis which argues that the Father is more divine than the Son. Subordinationism is also implied. However, as passages are encountered which say
that the Father is greater than the Son, a better hermeneutic would note that such a statement is to be understood when Christ is referred to in his
human nature and not in his divine nature. As man, Jesus is less than his Father but, as God, Jesus is the equal of his father. As God, Jesus’s
work cannot be separated from his Father’s work. In the same way, the work of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the work of the Father
nor from the work of the Son. All three persons work together since one can assemble scriptural passages which, on the one hand, say that the Father
is doing something and that the Son is doing the same thing. For instance, some scriptural passages say that all things are to be subjected to the
Father. But, others say that all things are to be subjected to the Son. Hence, since Father and Son share a common nature, everything is to be subjected
to both the Father and the Son (and also the Holy Spirit). So strong is the union between Father and Son that the mention of one always implies the other.
The Holy Spirit proceeds from both if one combines texts which speak of a proceeding from the Father with texts which suggest a proceeding from the Son.
The personal differences or personal attributes should not be understood in a way which denies a fundamental unity or a fundamental cooperation which
points to a common divine nature which, in turns, reveals the oneness of God. The mention of one divine being always implies the others. The difference
between the divine and human natures or forms in Christ allow one to correlate what actions refer to Christ in a way that is accounted for by his human
nature and what other actions are to be explained by the divine nature which he has always had.
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